One of the greatest challenges faced by industries in the dyestuff business is to provide dye compositions of different colors and hues having desirable fastness and strength properties on a wide range of substrates. To a great extent these industries have managed to provide dyestuffs, pigments, inks, etc. . . . , that have improved fastness properties. Particularly for cotton substrate, considered one of the world's most comfortable and popular fabrics, the range of color fast dyes available is relatively limited. This may be attributed to the fastness properties of the available dyes on cotton substrate.
Fluorescent dyestuff, ultraviolet brightener compositions, etc. . . . , among others, are used according to current fashion trends in leisurewear clothes, as in sportswear and in the work clothes worn outside. They are used in coloring of polyester and polyamide fibers by dyeing and printing or for whitening. There is a growing demand for fluorescent colored/brighter cotton fabric. Fluorescent dyes and Ultra Violet (UV) brighteners available for cotton are limited. It may not be easy to find the right vendor and dyeing operation. The application and machine cleaning processes are expensive and the result is limited quality because the light fastness and wash fastness of currently available fluorescent dyestuffs for cotton is found to be relatively poor. Therefore the current trend is to use fluorescent pigments rather than dyes on cotton. Pigments on cotton look great and offer a wider color palette. However they also involve higher costs and effort in the application process, and there are limitations with the quality of finished goods in respect of color fastness.
Thus there is a continuous need for improved polymer compositions, more particularly polymer compositions that have the required or better light and wash fastness and color strength on a wide variety of substrates including cotton. There is also a need for improved and cost-effective methods for synthesizing these polymer compositions.